Paroled from prison in 1932, Selby The Crandalls weren't the only attempted to live out his life in ob­ players to leave the tiny Benton scurity as a gardener fo r Henry Ford County village fo r the big city. Plow­ and sometime lecturer on the evils of boy alumnus Fred "Cy" Williams en­ life in the fast lane. He was never joyed a nineteen-year Major League able to reconcile the fact that his career. He led the National League glory days had ended before most of four times in home runs and five his real life had begun. On April 17, times in home run percentage. Un­ 1940, Kid McCoy-the real "Real fortunately fo r Cy, he was fo rced to McCoy"-swallowed a bottle of sleep­ split his career between the Chicago ing pills in the Hotel Tuller in Cubs and the Philadelphia Phillies Detroit, Michigan. and thereby never had the opportu­ Fortunately fo r the emotional well­ nity to appear in the Wo rld Series. being of the fa ns, most Indiana Wadena was hardly the only Indi­ sports stories--<>bscure, famous, or ana small town sending players to infamous-don't end so morbidly. In the fledgling Big Leagues. Big Sam the years fo llowing the Civil War, Thompson of Danville hit .404 in baseball provided a much healthier 1894 and ended up in the Hall of outlet for the aggressively competi­ Fame. Morocco, Indiana's Sam Rice tive tendencies of Hoosier youth than collected 2,987 hits and stole 351 With a career .331 batting average, Big had cavalry charges and artillery bases fo r the Cleveland Indians and Sam Thompson of Danville, Indiana, was a shoe-in for Cooperstown. The short duels. Most Indiana cities, towns, the great Senator teams of the 1920s. list of Thompson's accomplishments and villages had at least one team to Rice joined Big Sam at Cooperstown includes 166 RBis in 1887, 165 RBis carry the community's honor onto in 1963. in 1895, eight seasons over .300, 222 the Diamond Battlefield. Oakland City's Eddie Roush hits in 1893, 23 triples in 1887, 6,005 career at bats, and a .404 batting played for the Indianapolis Feder­ average in 1894. Playing for the Detroit als-champions of the "outlaw" Fed­ and Philadelphia entries in the National ne such team that en­ eral League in 1914-and fo r League from 1885 through 1906, Big joyed particular suc­ Cincinnati in the scandal-plagued Sam was the terror of the league. He 1919 World Series. Eddie had no part was inducted into the Hall of Fame in cess was the Wadena 1974. Plowboys. Led by the in the run shaving scam and swore Crandall brothers, to his dying day the Series was not Amos Wilson "The Hoosier Thunderbolt" the Plowboys had a rigged. Rusie of Mooresville, Indiana, completed penchant for pounding lumps on the Whatever the truth about the 392 of the 462 Major League games he gambling fix, Logansport's Judge started. Rusie posted records of 33-20 surrounding communities. After ab­ in 1891, 32-28 in 1892, and 36-13 in sorbing a 63-14 drubbing, the Kent­ Kenesaw Mountain Landis was ap­ 1894 on his way to 243 career wins for land nine requested a temporary pointed the first commissioner of the New York Giants. His 1,957 strike­ suspension of the rivalry. The Cran­ baseball and charged with cleaning outs and 1,716 walks (fourth on the all­ dall boys eventually tired of such up the game. His success at this task time list) help explain why no batter won him recognition as the father of dared to dig in when facing Thunderbolt. massacres and moved on to greater Rusie was elected to the Baseball Hall of glories. Karl had a long career with modern professional baseball. Eddie Fame in 1977. Indianapolis in the American Asso­ Roush was elected to the Hall of ciation and the Memphis Chicks of Fame in 1962, and in 1987 a major Of all the historic accomplishments of the Southern Association. Arnold motion picture entitled "Eight Men Mordecai Peter Centennial "Three Fin­ Out," detailing the story of the gers" Brown, perhaps the most notable was a stalwart with Buffalo in the is that he was the undisputed pitching International League. Brother "Black Sox Scandal," was filmed in star for the last Chicago Cubs World Se­ James-"Doc" to all who knew him­ Indianapolis. A tidy circle of events ries champions. Three Fingers had some enjoyed the greatest success. One of for a state everyone knows has no assistance in the form of a Tinkers to the first reliefspecialists, Doc joined baseball history. Evers to Chance double play combination that carried the Cubbies to Series ap­ the New Yo rk Giants in 1908 to back Amos "The Hoosier Thunderbolt" pearances in 1906, '07, '08, '09, and up the likes of future Hall of Famers Rusie took his dominating fa st ball '10. After a thirteen-year career in the Christy Mathewson and Rube Mar­ from Mooresville to the Indicmapolis big show, Brown returned to his boyhood quard. His eleven-year career in­ Blues of the old National League in home to coach both the Terre Haute Hot­ cluded 101 wins; a 2.92 ERA; 1889, then on to the New Yo rk Giants tentots of the Three I league and the In­ dianapolis Indians of the American appearances in the 1911, 1912, and in 1890. Rusie's "heater" was so over­ Association. Brown's monumental ca­ 1913 World Series; and a lifetime .285 powering that he is generally cred­ reer was capped by election to the Base­ batting average. ited as being the reason for the ball Hall of Fame in 1949. 44 Traces .